Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Our Enemies Will Vanish by Yaroslav Trofimov - Available

Our Enemies Will Vanish

The Russian Invasion and Ukraine's War of Independence

by Yaroslav Trofimov
David Furr
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist • Winner of the Peterson Literary Prize

“Our Enemies Will Vanish achieves the highest level of war reporting: a tough, detailed account that nevertheless reads like a great novel. One is reminded of Michael Herr's Dispatches . . . Frankly, it's what we have all aspired to. I did not really understand Ukraine until I read Trofimov's account.” —Sebastian Junger
A revelatory eyewitness account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and heroism of the Ukrainian people in their resistance by Yaroslav Trofimov, the Ukrainian chief foreign-affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimov has spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines. In this authoritative account, he traces the war’s decisive moments—from the battle for Kyiv to more recently the gruelling and bloody arm wrestle involving the Wagner group over Bakhmut—to show how Ukraine and its allies have turned the tide against Russia, one of the world’s great military powers, in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer and annex Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, redrawing the map of Europe in a few short weeks with seismic geopolitical consequences. But in the face of this existential threat, the Ukrainian people fought back, turning what looked like certain defeat into a great moral victory, even as the territorial battle continues to seesaw to this day. This is the story of the epic bravery of the Ukrainian people—people Trofimov knows very well.
For Trofimov, this war is deeply personal. He grew up in Kyiv and his family has lived there for generations. With deep empathy and local understanding, Trofimov tells the story of how everyday Ukrainian citizens—doctors, computer programmers, businesspeople, and schoolteachers—risked their lives and lost loved ones. He blends their brave and tragic stories with expert military analysis, providing unique insight into the thinking of Ukrainian leadership and mapping out the decisive stages of what has become a perilous war for Ukraine, the Putin regime, and indeed, the world.
This brutal, catastrophic struggle is unfolding on another continent, but the United States and its NATO allies have become deeply implicated. As the war drags on, it threatens to engulf the world. We cannot look away. At once heart-breaking and inspiring, Our Enemies Will Vanish is a riveting, vivid, and first-hand account of the Ukrainian refusal to surrender. It is the story of ordinary people fighting not just for their homes and their families but for justice and democracy itself.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 9, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593829974
      • File size: 350886 KB
      • Duration: 12:11:00

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 20, 2023
      Wall Street Journal reporter Trofimov (Siege of Mecca) offers a comprehensive and harrowing eyewitness report on the war in Ukraine that focuses on the heroism of the country’s civilians and soldiers. After Russian forces invaded in February 2022, “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian ex-pats living in Europe and the U.S. returned to take up arms alongside “local villagers with hunting rifles” and “unruly militias” financed by soccer fan clubs, oligarchs, and political parties (some with “a far-right political history”). Trofimov, who was born in Ukraine, describes how this “powerful network of volunteer groups” helped repel Russian forces. Reporting both from the front lines as well as far behind them, Trofimov covers the defense of Kyiv, the destruction of Mariupol and the failed peace negotiations in Istanbul. He notes how Russia’s attempts to demoralize local people with acts of brutality bolstered Western commitment to send more weapons. Interviewing civilians and soldiers, he also relays the dangers he and his photographer and driver faced in war zones and describes with palpable emotion seeing places of his youth. This thorough overview of the conflict extends until just before Ukraine’s offensive to retake Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in June 2023. Readers seeking a blow-by-blow account of the war will want to take a look.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This long and personal account of the Ukrainian-Russian War is narrated ably by David Furr. Trofimov's family has lived in Kiev/Kyiv for many generations, and he is a Ukrainian patriot who has spent much time at the front, interviewing numerous individuals to compile the story of the Ukrainian people's struggle in this horrific war. The current war between eastern Slavs, or between Slavs in general, is nothing new. While this is a well-written account, one should be careful in using only current accounts for a big-picture view of events. Trofimov's work ends just before Ukraine's disastrous Kherson counteroffensive in the summer of 2023. Furr is energetic and has a somewhat gravelly but winsome baritone, which goes well with this text. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading